Israel melon advice requested

[sbg]

Saturday I ordered a half pound of Israel melon seeds in the hopes of growing this delectable fruit that I've enjoyed only once before when I was living in Texas (current residence is NJ).

What I've read about melons in general is that they require a sizable piece of garden real estate to maximize their full potential. Most of the information I've found online agree on approximately 40 square foot per plant. I'm hoping that figure can be substantially reduced by using a trellis, is that correct? For those that have raised melons, how much room do their roots require to expand width-wise?

In the very likely event that I won't be willing to wait until spring to attempt this, is growing indoors a possibility? What obstacles should I expect to encounter with indoor growing?

Finally, I would be most appreciative of any tips those with experience with melons - especially this particular melon - would be willing to share.

Thanks!
Gregg

 

[Chuck]

Saturday I ordered a half pound of Israel melon seeds in the hopes of growing this delectable fruit that I've enjoyed only once before when I was living in Texas (current residence is NJ).

What I've read about melons in general is that they require a sizable piece of garden real estate to maximize their full potential. Most of the information I've found online agree on approximately 40 square foot per plant. I'm hoping that figure can be substantially reduced by using a trellis, is that correct? For those that have raised melons, how much room do their roots require to expand width-wise?

In the very likely event that I won't be willing to wait until spring to attempt this, is growing indoors a possibility? What obstacles should I expect to encounter with indoor growing?

Finally, I would be most appreciative of any tips those with experience with melons - especially this particular melon - would be willing to share.

Thanks!
Gregg

They grow great on a trellis. Mine is that wire that has the 3" x 2" x 4' mesh but anything will work. I plant them in a row on both sides of the wire trellis with the plants ending up about 1 1/2' - 2 feet apart. Mine usually average around 2 1/2 lbs. They require a lot of sunshine. Growing cantaloupes indoors IMO would be iffy as they need full all day sun and pollination would have to be by hand. In my alkaline soil I have found that they need extra potassium but you may not

 

[Beth_B]

I worked on a property of an Israeli couple and they had several varieties of melon and squash they grew from seeds they brought from Israel, so perhaps the same type of melons? Not too huge and pale green skin, as I recall.
Anyhow, they had an amazing garden and all their squash and melons were on A-frame type trellises.
I can't imagine indoors would be ideal, unless you have lots of space and probably some grow lights.

 

[Corzhens]

Over here, we do not use trellis for melons although I think that is a good idea since melons sitting on the ground is susceptible to diseases. We have several harvests with holes at the bottom of the melon, that surface that touched the ground. So what we do is get a dry bark of banana and let the melon sit on it. By the way, I am talking of ordinary melon. With honeydew, I have seen a farm with a low trellis for the fruits.

 

[marlingardener]

We were given an Israeli melon a few years ago, saved the seeds, and have grown a few ever since. Trellises that are sturdy are a great help, not only space-saving, but makes harvesting easier. If you can net the melon and attach the net to the trellis, you'll have fewer fall off. Just when they are getting nice and ripe, the stem isn't strong enough to hold the melon in some cases. This is a good use for all those mesh bags potatoes and onions come in.
We found a good application of composted cow manure at planting time and again when the vine began to flower helped get bigger melons. Israeli melons are the best!

 

[redhound15]

I planted israleis and hales best this year and the israleis have really produced well and are just now starting to ripen. a few of them are almost the size of a volleyball, the only thing i am having to share them with rats. they have ruined almost 1/2 of my crop. the israeli melon is the best tasting cantaloupe i have ever eaten, but they will not hold up but about 3-4 days. hales best is ok too but will not compare with the isralei. if you grow them vertically you will need to support them somehow after they get about softball or bigger in size. the vines do spread rather wide so you will need quite a bit of room. good luck.

 

[Chuck]

There are folks here and on the web that have stated that Israel cantaloupes are almost the size of volley balls and bowling balls. That may be true , but, the true Isreal cantaloupe is a small almost netless fruit that is about the size of 1 1/2 softballs at the most. There are many varieties of the Ogen cantaloupe, which originated in Isreal and are marketed as Isreal cantaloupes. Some have different growth habits. The real original Isreal cantaloupe is a small fruited almost netless, orange skined fruit with whitish/ greenish meat that is extremely sweet. I don't like to see folks confused by marketing techniques

 

[sbg]

Thanks, Chuck!

The picture used on the order form for the seeds purchased seems to match your description, so I'm hoping I got the right ones. In addition to my recollection from almost 25 years ago, the motivation to finally attempt to grow these came from stumbling across this article. I'm still trying to locate information about how much the roots spread out.

 

[redhound15]

There are folks here and on the web that have stated that Israel cantaloupes are almost the size of volley balls and bowling balls. That may be true , but, the true Isreal cantaloupe is a small almost netless fruit that is about the size of 1 1/2 softballs at the most. There are many varieties of the Ogen cantaloupe, which originated in Isreal and are marketed as Isreal cantaloupes. Some have different growth habits. The real original Isreal cantaloupe is a small fruited almost netless, orange skined fruit with whitish/ greenish meat that is extremely sweet. I don't like to see folks confused by marketing techniques

Chuck you are right about those not being the true original isreale melon but the ones i have are very similar in taste. The isralei melon i remember my dad raised was about the size of a football but more round and an orange and almost smooth skin and boy smelled much stronger than most cantaloupes do today. My dad also called them muskmelons because of that strong smell. Those were so sweet they tasted like honey had been poured on them. I am going to try to find those seed for next years planting.